Serbia men's national basketball team


The Serbia men's national basketball team represents Serbia in international men's basketball competition, and is controlled by the Basketball Federation of Serbia. Serbia is currently ranked third in the FIBA World Ranking.
From 1992 to 2003, the national team played in international tournaments under the name FR Yugoslavia, and from 2003 to 2006, under the name Serbia and Montenegro. Following Montenegro’s declaration of independence in 2006, Serbia is considered sole legal successor. The Basketball Federation of Serbia retained the place of the Basketball Federation of Serbia and Montenegro as a FIBA member, and Serbia thus officially inherited all of the preceding country's results and medals.
Serbia has often been portrayed as a basketball powerhouse. With 16 members of the FIBA Hall of Fame, 5 members of the Naismith’s Hall of Fame and 20% of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors, Serbian players, coaches and administrators had and continue to have a profound effect on the development of basketball in Europe and the world. From the leader of the Silver Generation of Yugoslavian basketball, through the most important players of the First Golden Generation and Second Golden Generation, the successes of Serbian players continued even after the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991. Following its international debut in 1995, strengthened by new stars of European basketball, the Serbian national team continued where Yugoslavia stopped by winning 7 medals from 1995 to 2002.
The production of great players continued in the 21st century with Euroleague MVPs Miloš Teodosić, Nemanja Bjelica and Vasilije Micić, along with Bogdan Bogdanović, Nenad Krstić and 3-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić. In 2020s the new generations continue in the footsteps of their predecessors, winning titles and individual accolades in both NBA and Euroleague, simultaneously positioning the national team in second place in the FIBA ranking.
In addition to players, Serbian coaches have also significantly influenced the development of basketball in Europe for almost a century. From Naismith Hall of Famer Aleksandar Nikolić and Olympic champion Ranko Žeravica to multiple Euroleague champions Dušan Ivković, Svetislav Pešić and Božidar Maljković to Željko Obradović, the greatest coach in European basketball history and outside the NBA, Serbian coaches have won a record 19 Euroleague titles, 17 out of 26 Yugoslavian medals and 13 medals with the Serbian national team at the biggest international competitions.
The four “Fathers of Yugoslav basketball” and recipients of the prestigious FIBA Order of Merit are also Serbs; coach, journalist, commentator and founder of Crvena Zvezda basketball team Nebojša Popović, long-term president of the Basketball Federation of Yugoslavia Radomir Šaper, the aforementioned founder of the Serbian coaching school Aleksandar Nikolić and Borislav Stanković, a Serb who probably had the greatest impact on the world of basketball. As the general secretary of FIBA Stanković is responsible for bridging the conflict between the NBA and FIBA. With the agreement between Stankovic and NBA commissioner David Stern, NBA players [1992 United States men's national basketball team|United States men's Olympic basketball team|got the opportunity to play at the Olympics], while at the same time the first wave of European players went to the NBA. The agreement made basketball truly a global sport and directly opened the door for the continuation of American dominance on the international stage as well as the creation of a base of foreign players who will win 7 NBA MVP awards in a row and counting.
WWW kss.rs

History

Serbia and Montenegro

With the start of Yugoslav Wars in 1991, and subsequent breakup of Yugoslavia, the Yugoslavia national team was disbanded. The team consisted of players selected from the population of over 23 million people, and the basketball infrastructure was evenly distributed among the six states which formed the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
In 1992, FR Yugoslavia was established as the federation of the two remaining Yugoslav republics, Serbia and Montenegro. The newly established country had less than half the population of the former country. The Basketball Federation of FR Yugoslavia became the governing body of basketball for the new country. After the adoption of UNSCR 757, the national team was suspended from participating in international tournaments. Due to these sanctions and ongoing war, the national team was prevented from participating at the 1992 Summer Olympics, EuroBasket 1993 and 1994 FIBA World Cup.

1995–2002: Golden generation

Without much sponsorship for the war-impoverished country, the national team made its comeback to the international scene at the EuroBasket 1995 in Greece, where it won the gold medal; after defeating Lithuania in the final. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, the team lost 69–95 to the United States in the gold-medal game. After the defeat, the national team would go on to claim the gold medal in their next two international competitions, EuroBasket 1997 and the 1998 FIBA World Cup; while winning the bronze medal at EuroBasket 1999 and reclaiming gold once again at the EuroBasket 2001.
One of the most notable wins for the Yugoslavia national team came in the quarter-finals of the 2002 FIBA World Cup, where the host nation of the tournament, the United States was eliminated 81–78. The significance of the win was tremendous for the Serbian people in general, as the public in Serbia perceived the United States political leadership responsible for the breakup of Yugoslavia, and destruction of the country's infrastructure; as well as civil victims during the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. Thereafter, the Yugoslavia national team went on to win the competition, by defeating New Zealand in the semi-finals and Argentina in the final 84–77 in OT to win the gold medal.

2003–2006: Underwhelming results

In 2002, FR Yugoslavia consisted of the states of Serbia and Montenegro. The merged nations came to a new agreement regarding continued co-operation, which, among other changes, promised the end of the name Yugoslavia. On 4 February 2003, the federal assembly of Yugoslavia created a loose state union—the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro. The following years were underwhelming as the national team failed to make the podium at international tournaments, after decades of winning medals.
At the EuroBasket 2003, the team came in sixth place, but due to their world champion status, were automatically qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece.
Entering 2004, the national team participated in the less important Diamond Ball tournament, prior to the 2004 Olympic Games where they won the gold medal. Although the team was unable to carry over the momentum heading into the Olympics, and were eliminated in the group stage with a record, finishing in 11th place.
After two consecutive tournament disappointments, hopes of getting back on the podium returned for the EuroBasket 2005 where Serbia and Montenegro was the host nation. Heading into the tournament, Željko Obradović was brought back for a second stint as head coach of the national team. However, they were eliminated in the play-off stage by France 74–71, and finished in ninth place. After the tournament, Obradović stepped down, and blamed a bad atmosphere among the team's star players for the failure. The team then participated at the 2006 FIBA World Cup on a wild card, due to the results in the past on the initiative by FIBA prominent administrator Borislav Stanković. Although the national team of Serbia and Montenegro came up short once again, with another ninth-place finish.
On 21 May 2006, Montenegrins voted in an independence referendum, with 55.5% supporting independence. The subsequent Montenegrin proclamation of independence in June 2006 and the Serbian proclamation of independence on 5 June ended the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and thus the last remaining vestiges of the former Yugoslavia.

Serbia

2006–2009

Following the dissolution of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, the national team participated at the EuroBasket 2007. There, the team finished the competition failing to make it out of the group stage after three close losses. The result failed to qualify the team for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which was their first time missing the Olympic tournament after missing it in 1992 due to suspension.
In December 2007, the legendary Dušan Ivković hinted that he would take the helm as head coach of the national team.

2009–2013: Flashes of old glory

Under Ivković's coaching, a new generation of players led by Nenad Krstić and Miloš Teodosić returned some of the old glory by taking the silver medal at Eurobasket 2009. At the 2010 FIBA World Cup, after narrowly defeating Croatia in the Round of 16, Miloš Teodosić hit a deep three-point shot to upset the favourites of the tournament Spain in the quarter-finals. Entering the semis, Serbia would come up short, after a controversial referee's error to the tournament's host Turkey 83–82. With the youngest team in the competition, Serbia eventually finished in fourth place after losing to Lithuania 99–88 in the bronze-medal game.
At the EuroBasket 2011, the team failed to reach the semi-finals, finishing the tournament in eighth place; thus failing to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics. At the EuroBasket 2013, the team was once again eliminated in the quarter-finals and finished in seventh place.

2013–2019: Silver generation

Following the EuroBasket 2013, Ivković stepped away from the position, and Serbian basketball hall of famer Aleksandar Đorđević stepped into his place.
Đorđević led the team to the silver medal at the 2014 FIBA World Cup, where they lost in the final to the United States. At the EuroBasket 2015, Serbia finished in fourth place, with their only tournament loses coming in the semi-finals to Lithuania and in the bronze-medal game to France.
After winning the 2016 Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in Belgrade, the national team won the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, losing in the final to the United States.
With the absence of team captains Miloš Teodosić, and Nikola Jokić, rising star Bogdan Bogdanović emerged as team leader at the EuroBasket 2017. The national team went on to earn their third silver medal in four years, after falling to a Goran Dragić-led Slovenia 93–85 in the final.
Facing a different qualification system introduced by FIBA for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the national team was forced to play without their key players in nearly all of their qualification matches. However, they narrowly secured the last spot for the World Cup in their second round qualification group. Prior the World Cup, Serbia was dubbed as one of the favourites to win the tournament; but was eventually defeated in the quarter-finals by Argentina. With the team relegated to the classification phase, they would pick up wins against the United States and Czech Republic to finish in fifth place. After the tournament, head coach Đorđević announced his decision to leave the position after six years.

2019–2021

Under head coach Igor Kokoškov, Serbia failed to qualify to the 2020 Summer Olympics after losing in the final game of the Qualifying Tournament to Italy before home crowd.

2021–present

In 2021, legendary head coach Svetislav Pešić took over the team once again. In Pešić' first tournament as head coach, after winning all five group matches at the EuroBasket 2022, Italy upset Serbia in Round of 16 with 94–86 and Serbia finished in ninth place. At the 2023 FIBA World Cup, despite absence of several star players, Serbia managed to reach the tournament final where they lost to the Germany. Serbia won the bronze medal at the [Basketball at the Basketball at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament|2024 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament|2024 Summer Olympics] after defeating Germany with 93–83.

Competitive record

Name of the nation during the tournaments:

Head to head record

A list of official matches played at the World and European Championships, as well as at the Olympic basketball tournament. Friendly matches are not included in this table.
''Last updated: 25 September 2025''

Team

Serbia depth chart



Depth chart for the Eurobasket 2025


Past rosters

  • EuroBasket 1995
  • EuroBasket 1997
  • EuroBasket 1999
  • EuroBasket 2001
  • EuroBasket 2003
  • EuroBasket 2005
  • EuroBasket 2007
  • EuroBasket 2009
  • EuroBasket 2011
  • EuroBasket 2013
  • EuroBasket 2015
  • EuroBasket 2017
  • EuroBasket 2022
  • EuroBasket 2025
  • 1998 FIBA World Cup
  • 2002 FIBA World Cup
  • 2006 FIBA World Cup
  • 2010 FIBA World Cup
  • 2014 FIBA World Cup
  • 2019 FIBA World Cup
  • 2023 FIBA World Cup
  • 1996 Summer Olympics
  • 2000 Summer Olympics
  • 2004 Summer Olympics
  • 2016 Summer Olympics
  • 2024 Summer Olympics

Head coaches

Since 1992, the national team has been managed by a total of eight different head coaches. Dušan Ivković, Željko Obradović, and Svetislav Pešić are the only coaches with more than one spell.
FR Yugoslavia
YearsCoachCompetition
1992–1995Eur1

Player statistics

These tables include player statistics on Olympic games, FIBA World Cup and FIBA Eurobasket matches as well as matches on qualification tournaments since 1995. Friendly and preparation matches are not included.
  • Bold denotes players still playing international basketball.

Notable players

Multiple medal winners

This is a list of people who have won two or more medals, who represented FR Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro or Serbia since 1995.
PlayerCareerGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1995–2005
7
1995–2005
7
1995–2001
6
1995–2005
4
1995–1998
4
1995–1998
4
1995–2002
4
1996–1999
4
1995–20004
1996–1999
4
1995–1997
3
1999–2007
3
1999–2003
3
2001–2007
2
2000–2006
2
1995–2003
2
1995–19962
1998–20002
1999–20012
'2013–

5
'2014–

4
2007–2016

3
2007–2016

3
2009–2019

3
2013–2017

3
2014–2019

3
'2017–
3
2009–2019
3
'2023–2
2009–2019
2
'2022–2
'2023–2
'2016–2
'2023–2
2004–2014
2
2013–2022
2
'2022–2
'2013–2
'2015–2
'2023–2
2014–2020
2

Individual awards

;

International competitions

FIBA World Cup MVP

Other notable achievements

FIBA Order of Merit

Notable coaches

Individual achievements

;Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame